News

SAN DIEGO – Twelve people are facing federal fraud charges after an investigation revealed that more than $10 million intended to help low-income families pay for childcare was instead funneled to bogus daycare providers. In a coordinated takedown early Thursday morning, more than 250 federal, state and local law enforcement officials arrested all 12 defendants and executed 12 search warrants at homes in San Diego purported to be used as daycare facilities. 

SAN DIEGO – Former sailors Bailey A. Szramowski and Johnnese H. Poomaihealani pleaded guilty in federal court this morning to selling counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl to active-duty U.S. Navy servicemembers stationed in San Diego, including during deployments. According to court records, Szramowski provided an active-duty U.S. Navy servicemember assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln with 10 purported oxycodone pills in December 2022. The victim, identified in court records by his initials, A.N., overdosed and died of acute fentanyl intoxication in January 2023.

SAN DIEGO – Kassandra Sanchez was sentenced in federal court today to 12 and a half months in prison for aiding and abetting her boyfriend in stealing the identity of her brother to commit a variety of federal crimes in the United States. This included smuggling an alien through the San Ysidro Port of Entry and fraudulently obtaining public benefits such as Medi-Cal and CalFresh.

SAN DIEGO – Frank Mahonri Cruz-Marentes, a Mexican national who was extradited to the United States from Peru in November 2025, pleaded guilty this morning to laundering more than $72 million in drug proceeds between January 2019 and April 2021. According to court records, Cruz-Marentes secured contracts with drug trafficking organizations in Mexico to pick up drug proceeds in cities throughout the United States, including Baltimore, Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston, Denver, Chicago, New York, and numerous others.

SAN DIEGO – Roberto Galeana-Guatemala, a Mexican national who was previously deported and living illegally in the U.S., was sentenced in federal court Friday to 33 months in prison for driving his vehicle into federal law enforcement officers and seriously injuring one officer while they attempted to arrest him. The defendant pleaded guilty on June 18, 2026, to Assaulting a Federal Officer and Deported Alien Found in the United States. According to his plea agreement, Galeana-Guatemala admitted that he used his automobile to seriously injure a Task Force Officer when they attempted to arrest

SAN DIEGO – Benjamin Madrigal-Birrueta, a Mexican national in the country illegally who was living in Yakima, Washington, was sentenced in federal court today to 40 years in prison for his role in the murders of a man, his six-month pregnant wife and their unborn child during a drug-related dispute.  According to his plea agreement, Madrigal and co-conspirators fatally shot 44-year-old Cesar Murillo multiple times in the back of the head and torso on August 28, 2022, during an argument. The shooting took place at a remote ranch outside of Yakima, Washington. Madrigal’s co-conspirators then

SAN DIEGO – Donald Danks of Irvine was convicted by a federal jury today of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, witness tampering, obstruction of justice, and perjury in connection with a multi-million-dollar scheme to defraud investors in a Nasdaq-listed company and his subsequent efforts to obstruct the investigation into his conduct. After a two-week retrial, the jury found that Danks engaged in a six-year securities fraud scheme involving the stock of Loop Industries, Inc. Danks used his position as a company insider to obtain nonpublic information and influence investors while secretly

SAN DIEGO – James Soriano, a former public official at the Naval Information Warfare Center in San Diego, was sentenced in federal court today to 72 months in prison for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. According to his plea agreement, Soriano admitted he accepted bribes from defense contractors in the form of lavish meals, employment opportunities for family members and friends, and tickets to premier sporting events. In exchange, he used his position to help the contractors secure and maintain hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts.

SAN DIEGO – Chad Oso of La Mesa was sentenced in federal court today to 121 months in prison for kidnapping his estranged wife and violently tearing her away from their two young children, who were left home alone as he forced their mother into his vehicle and drove away. Oso was convicted of kidnapping by a federal jury in March. According to evidence presented at the trial, Oso showed up at the victim’s La Mesa home on September 17, 2024, unannounced and uninvited. Oso made demands of the victim, but she rejected them. Oso became increasingly aggressive, escalating the confrontation to the

SAN DIEGO – David Alfonso Barrera Nunes, pilot of a smuggling boat that capsized off Imperial Beach in rough surf last year, resulting in the deaths of five undocumented immigrants, was sentenced in federal court today to 57 months in prison. On November 14, 2025, U.S. Border Patrol agents were notified of a small vessel crossing north from Mexico, heading towards Imperial Beach. Attempts to intercept the vessel were unsuccessful because dense fog significantly limited visibility. About an hour later, agents saw a small boat in the water, with several people emerging from the area. The boat